Westfield Home, Food and Wine Weekend

Last night we were very kindly invited to the preview launch of Westfield’s Home, Food and Wine Weekend happening this very weekend (11-12 October). It sure spiced up a typical Wednesday night eating a quick meal in front of the TV at home, not to mention I haven’t really dined in the middle of a shopping mall before (food court doesn’t count). When we arrived I absolutely loved the table setting, a little rustic with beautiful flowers and cheeseboards all set out.

The night was hosted by Adelaide’s own lovely Laura Cassai, runner-up of Masterchef 2014. We were also joined by David from The Cheesemonger, Martin from Murray Street Vineyard and Emma from Penny’s Hill wines. After all, you can’t have cheese without some great SA wine.

To the left of the board is Sartori Montamore from Wisconsin in USA. A rich, creamy and mildly nutty cheddar like cheese which was perfect served with nashi pear. It had a bit of a bite to it. This was also paired with Murray Street Vineyard’s Semillon and Penny’s Hill Sauvignon Blanc. I didn’t have any wine as I don’t drink so Mr. Foodie was my taster. He found the sauvignon blanc to be his favourite.

Next David introduced us to the Adelaide Hills Chevre made by Udder delights. It was a soft French style goat’s cheese which was creamy and not overly salty as I have found with many goat’s cheeses. He recommended we tried it with the Kangaroo Island Pure Honey on a bit of sourdough bread baked by Dough at Adelaide Central Market. What a delicious combination, all the flavours worked together really well. Also I had somehow munched through all the bread by now….oops! Moving on to the reds, this cheese was paired with Murray Street Vineyard’s Mataro.

Next up…and I ran out of bread. Something tells me I’m not the only one as David walks around with a pack of crackers and thongs refilling cheeseboards. Phew! I do love blue cheese and was quite excited to try the Adel BlueCheese served with South Australian quince paste. This wasn’t a strong blue but it was creamy and delicious all the same. It’s a good one to try if you’re not a huge fan of blue cheese. It might just get you started. Quince paste went beautifully with it of course! Wine of choice? Murray Street Vineyard’s Cabernet.

The last cheese we tried was Adelaide Hills Brie also made by Udder Delights. A creamy cow’s milk French style brie with a fuller flavour. All I could think of was baking a wheel of this stuff and dipping sourdough bread in it. David served this with Adelaide Hills plum paste and of course I needed more crackers. Penny’s Hill Shiraz was paired with this cheese.

We had a great evening and there’s no cheese I do not like so this was a great night for me. In fact we had a conversation with one of the guests about the upcoming Cheese Fest and this has set me in the mood for sure. We finished off with some chocolate coated strawberries (they sure know how to please us) and me secretly thinking how to swipe those gorgeous bouquets from the table. Didn’t get to swipe them but were very generously given the cheeseboard each! Now I have a paddle for rectangular pizza, charcuterie and of course cheese!

L-R: Martin of MSV Wines, Emma of Penny’s Hill, Laura Cassai from Masterchef and David from The Cheesemonger

It was another well organized Eat and Tweet event by

Girl About Town to introduce the Home Food and Wine Weekend at Westfield Centres this weekend. My local is Marion so think I might be heading down to check out a few things. There will be cooking demonstrations by Simon Bryant and Masterchef’s Laura Cassai. If you love chocolate you might want to check out Bracegirdles chocolate making workshop. There will also be a mini cheese masterclass at West Lakes. Oh did I mention wine tasting? There will also be home styling tips and workshops along with giveaways! If you’re heading to Marion on Sunday, might I suggest you catch Markus and Cain of LB Events for tips on home styling before watching a cooking demonstration. For more details and the full schedule click here.

Whatever you do, whichever centre you end up in, have fun and enjoy Westfield’s Home, Food and Wine weekend!